Long Road Ahead
by Great Mistake
Summary: A lowly castle servant is assigned an unusual duty, which brings her face to face with the mysterious Mario Brothers for the first time. (One-shot)


**I wrote this one-shot about 4 months ago at 9 P.M. and finished editing it (for what I thought would be the last time) at 11 P.M. on the same night. Then I decided to get it betaread and after receiving some suggestions and criticisms, I decided to take a second look at it. This one-shot was originally 1,000+ words. Now it's about 5,000, not including this author's note. I tried my very bestest to make it better and it would have been out sooner if I didn't have problems as of late . . . Both medical and emotional problems that are still trying to be figured out, so, in short, I just apologize for the silence in stories lately.**

**I'd like to thank my most fabulous betareader, Verran, for giving me the little tricks n' tips. It is much appreciated!**

**Last thing: title is subject to change. If anyone has any suggestions then leave 'em below! Thanks.**

**Welp, here it is. **

**Enjoy ~**

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><p>As a servant Toad, you only have two reasons to ever step into a room that is not yours: to serve tea upon request andor to bring food upon request. There were no _if_'s, _and_'s, _or_'s or _but_'s about it. Any other reason was beyond my knowledge.

Upon checking my list of assigned chores for that day, I had noticed I was to bring tea to the princess and her advisor that night. I found that a surprise, as I rarely get assigned to serve the princess anything.

I stepped into the conference room silently only to be greeted by the differing looks of Princess Peach and Toadsworth. While the princess was simply watching me enter with curious gaze, Toadsworth seemed to have glared at me. Telling by his look, I had just stepped in on an, albeit, important conversation. After all, the two had seated themselves across from each other in the conference room, where all important conversations take place. It is a long and rather spacious room, with a wooden ovular table that nearly stretched from one side of the room to the other. It was a pain to dust, too. During the day, the conference room retained a lighter atmosphere. The windows were opened wide enough to let the air in and the curtains were pulled back enough to let the sunlight shine down on the tiled floor. During the night, however, the conference room held a much more serious tone that fit the events that took place within far better than its tone in the day. The windows were closed - sometimes even locked - and the curtains were drawn. While it was empty, the only thing that lit the conference room would be a sliver of moonlight that found its way through the thick curtains. With only a few candles to keep the room lit while it was occupied, it seemed as if the princess' and her advisor's eyes were glowing. Their stares, kindly or not, simply gave me a sudden chill.

Though as haunting as it was, I remained silent; I had been trained not to say anything to anyone above me. By being a castle servant I am only one step above commoners, and I am only allowed to speak when spoken to. I set the tray down, and put cups and spoons at both their sides.

"Now," Toadsworth picked up the conversation, "where were we?"

"Mario and Luigi," the princess said slowly. I felt her watch me as I poured tea into her cup.

"Ah, yes. Well, I don't see what the fuss is all about. There is no doubt in my mind that this is simply a ruse." He adjusted his glasses. I set the kettle down and placed the sugar holder on the table. "Two men appear from a pipe and claim to rescue a princess simply out of good will?" Toadsworth looked at the princess' cup. "Sounds like absolute rubbish to me."

Princess Peach looked to the sugar holder. I caught her gaze and she quietly asked for one lump. Using a small tong I dropped it in, and this was followed by her nod in thanks. Her thin hand then took hold of the spoon that had been set aside.

I began to pour tea into Toadsworth's cup. Princess Peach tilted her head and questioned, "So you don't believe in kind people?"

"There are kind people and then there are kind people who turn out to be not-so-kind in the end. Mario and Luigi, whoever they are, seem to be the latter." He asked for no sugar and I stepped back. He took a sip before quickly putting the cup down in its saucer again. I think he burned himself.

"But they saved me. They saved the kingdom!" Princess Peach stopped and began to stir. The spoon clicked against the inside of the cup once, then twice. "Not only that but they are hopelessly lost."

Toadsworth nodded. "Yes, yes. I am thankful for them saving you and the kingdom, but . . . Where did they claim to be from again?"

The princess flustered as she stirred her tea. "I believe it was, a place called . . . Brook-lyn?"

"Well," Toadsworth leaned back in his chair, "I have never heard of such a place, have you?"

Princess Peach shook her head slowly.

"These men are thieves, your highness. Thieves with fake stories and fake identities and you are lucky that they did not make off with you when they had the chance." Toadsworth turned to me. "That will be all, dear."

I began to fix up the tray and head towards the door. Regardless, the conversation continued.

"I walked all the way back to the kingdom with them by my side. Thieves have a certain aura to them, Toadsworth. Mario and Luigi don't have a sliver of that sly, conniving aura in them."

Princess Peach suddenly ordered me to stop. I turned. "Yes, your highness?"

"Retrieve Mario and Luigi for us."

"Right away, your highness," I said, and I hurried out of the room.

The silver tray was abandoned on a night stand as I made my way towards the guest rooms. After saving the princess from King Bowser's attack, the brothers were offered a room to share in the castle, as they had no place to call 'home' yet in this world. Besides abruptly appearing from another world entirely, one of the things that intrigued me the most about them was the fact that they were both humans. The only human I had ever seen in person was Princess Peach. However, Mario and Luigi stayed in their room the entire day and I was not assigned to bring anything to them. Upon their return, I couldn't catch a glimpse of what they looked like in the crowd of Toads celebrating the princess' welcome home. It was safe to say that I had almost no idea what to expect before that door opened.

I knocked on the door – my hands were shaking badly – and waited for a response. I soon grew curious and pushed my ear against the door. I heard the two speaking, but in some kind of language that I could not identify, and thus could not translate. To this day I still don't know what they were saying. I heard heavy footsteps as someone began to approach the door. I pulled away quickly. The door swung open and I was greeted by the looming figure of Mario.

If I had to describe how Mario looked in one word, that word would be 'tired'. Mario was only a head taller than me and his entire figure was thick. His structure was different compared to the princess', though I could still see how they were of the same species. If I knew anything for sure at the time it was that the Mario Brothers were the male versions of humans. Personally, I thought that was the only difference. My eyes moved back to his round face, where I noticed his mustache covered most of his mouth. There were darkening rings under his blue eyes and while he stood straight at the doorway his shoulders slid down, at ease. Mario's clothes required at heavy washing, I could tell. His shirt looked to be a dusty version of the color red, and his overalls, a dusty version of the color blue.

It wasn't as if I hadn't seen some of these physical qualities before. The mustache, for instance, was nothing new. Toadsworth had a mustache that grew with him over time, becoming gray, then white. I had seen a human before, as well. I knew that their limbs were stretched out more than ours and that their entire anatomy was, to put it curtly, _different_. But then and there I only stared at him for what felt to me like the longest time. Once I realized that, I tried to force my attention to the task at hand, executing a single gulp.

"The princess requires you and your brother's presence in the conference room immediately," I said when I finally gathered the words.

I saw Luigi look out from the side of the doorway. He was dressed in green like his brother was dressed in red. His overalls were a darker shade of blue, and the ends of his overalls struggled to cover the top of his boots unlike his brother's. Luigi's figure wasn't as thick as Mario's was, and when he stood I saw that he was taller than Mario. The two looked nearly the same facially; I could see how they were related. Truthfully, I felt intimidated around the two. I simply tried to swallow it down. "If you will follow me, please," and I turned down the hallway. They followed me in silence.

When we stepped into the conference room Toadsworth and Princess Peach immediately faced us. The brothers walked in slowly.

If a servant is not dismissed by anyone in the room, the servant is to exit the room at an appropriate time. Following that rule, I was supposed to dismiss myself the minute Mario and Luigi stepped in. I found myself rooted in place instead.

The princess smiled. "Mario! Luigi! Please, take a seat. Anywhere you'd like."

They sat down opposite from each other and one seat away from Toadsworth and Peach. Toadsworth crossed his arms and sat back in his seat. He looked at Mario, Mario looked at him, Peach looked at Toadsworth and Luigi looked worried.

"You're welcome in the castle for as long as you'd like, Mario Brothers," said the princess sweetly. "I know how hard it must be for you two to be so far away from your home."

Mario sighed. He spoke with an accent that I couldn't identify. "This is only until we find the pipe again. But-a thank you."

Luigi said nothing.

Toadsworth sat straight. "Whatever pipe you two had fallen down has a low chance of ever appearing again, unfortunately. Warp Pipes here are all connected to this world. I have never heard of a pipe that connects to . . . to, um . . ."

"Brooklyn," Luigi said in a small voice. He had an accent like Mario's, but only a little bit thicker. Everyone turned to him and the room was quiet for a moment, as if they all had realized how scared he looked.

Toadsworth cleared his throat. "Quite right."

"Well," Princess Peach looked to Mario, "you're more than welcome here. Until the pipe returns, of course."

Mario nodded. "We will keep to ourselves, _princi _– princess."

Princess Peach smiled. She eyed Toadsworth as if she had made her case.

Toadsworth sighed.

Mario switched glances between Princess Peach and Toadsworth. "If that will be all . . ." he spoke softly.

The princess nodded. "Oh, yes." She granted them leave.

Mario gave a polite smile (yet I could tell it was forced [after three years of working for a princess who never always wore a genuine smile, you could see right through the nonsense]) and stood and walked over to Luigi. He seemed to have to pull Luigi out of his seat in order to get him to move at all. All eyes were them until they left the room.

The doors closed, leaving that one soft slam of them clapping together to echo through the room. I kept my eyes on the door, as if I thought the brothers would return for some reason. Had Toadsworth and the princess remained silent I wouldn't have realized what I had done. Listening in on conversations between royal officials or royals themselves is a strict violation of the rules. Toadsworth coughed gently into his fist. I looked at him, puzzled for a moment, then I gasped. "Oh! My, my apologies, Toadsworth!" I faced the princess and bowed. "Your highness. If that will be all -"

Princess Peach opened her mouth at that moment but was cut off instantly. "I think it will," Toadsworth said curtly. He gave no smile nor frown but a solid stare that gave me a heavy feeling of guilt. Though I am a servant, I am a castle servant. I was molded to be the best of the best. Those who do wrong in the palace are either punished or removed from castle grounds hastily. I was expecting my punishment or note of leave to appear on my clipboard sometime tomorrow morning. From the look on his face, I couldn't tell what Toadsworth was planning at the time. I simply knew that if I stayed any longer then I would definitely be ushered off castle grounds.

With another bow, I shakily composed myself and walked out of the room. I grabbed the silver tray I placed on the nightstand before and made my way downstairs to the servant's quarters. Whatever Princess Peach and Toadsworth discussed afterwards is beyond my knowledge. I promise that.

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><p>The servant's quarters is hidden behind a large velvet curtain on the main floor of Mushroom Castle. Behind those regal velvet curtains is a long, velvet hallway, with doors on either sides that lead to different rooms. At the far end is one of the entrances to the kitchen. The second entrance to the kitchen is from the ballroom. The doors in the servant's hallway are made of the finest, darkest wood, and each door has a different symbol painted in the center to signify what lies behind it. No servant had their very own bedroom, but instead shared one large one. We had our own cots and nightstands for whatever possessions we had, but rooms were separated and shared based on gender. Conversations surrounding possibly renovating the servant's quarters to fit our ideal accommodations were tossed around and nearly brought up to Toadsworth, but all conversations had been put on a semi-permanent pause when the Mario Brothers came to town.<p>

Toads are notorious for their love of gossip. The minute a new citizen sets foot in the castle for the finalization of legal papers, the castle is abuzz. The minute the news of two humans reaches the public ear, everyone everywhere in the kingdom cannot go a full minute without bringing it up. It hadn't been long since their arrival, so I expected the gossip to stay alive and kicking for a while - no matter how tired or annoying it may have seemed. Day and night all one heard in the servant's quarters were ongoing conversations regarding the brothers. Some were based on assumptions, such as rumors heard about the two and their battle against King Bowser, and others were simply questions with no answers. As I walked down the dimly lit velvet halls to the kitchen and heard these questions I mentally answered what I could.

"Where are they from?"

_Brooklyn._

"How did they get here?"

_Warp Pipe. Possibly one with a broken connection. _

"Were you able to see what they looked like?"

_Tired, dirty, tall . . ._

I pushed through the shining silver doors of the kitchen and placed the tea tray in the sink. I was alone in the kitchen, as the cooks call it quits after their dinner eaten and directly after that the cleaners wash up whatever is left in the kitchen and call it quits themselves. It was ten - a time we refer to as "wrap-up hour". As I dried the tea tray and placed it in the lower cupboard for use tomorrow, the doors from the ballroom flew open. I turned my head. It was a guard, and he looked just as tensed as Luigi had.

"Where is Toadsworth?" he demanded quickly.

"Preparing for sleep now, perhaps." I shrugged. "Why?"

"The Mario Brothers . . . they requested to leave moments ago. They asked not to bother the princess about it. I had no word from the princess or Toadsworth regarding their leave, and I thought to alert Toadsworth but I can't find him!"

I dried my hands and walked over to him. "Did you check the room they shared? Do you know where they were heading?'

"There was nothing taken or left behind." The guard paused for a second to answer my next question. "I - They told me they were going towards the hill near the woods. Something about a pipe being there . . . I'm not too sure." The guard shook his head.

"Then there's nothing to worry about as of now. Toadsworth usually stops by his study before bed, so check there. Tell him what has happened, and from there the princess will learn." The guard had looked new. No castle guard hardened by attacks and grueling tasks of that nature would approach a servant with a frantic attitude. I said nothing about it, though. He would learn.

The guard nodded. "Very well. Thank you." He tapped the marble floor with the wooden end of his spear, a sign of the conversation coming to a close. He walked out of the kitchen and back into the ballroom. I made my way to the female's quarters. The day, too, had come to a close.

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><p>The note that I was assigned to bring Princess Peach her breakfast that morning was attached to my clipboard when I woke up. The castle's dining room was never used by Princess Peach ever since the passing of her parents. She simply ordered her meals be sent to her room. The castle servants, however, kept the room used and clean, because we ate there.<p>

The princess' room is separated from the rest of the castle by a long hallway. I never truly knew why, but I always guessed it was for security purposes – say, if the front of the castle were attacked, Princess Peach would have some time to escape. The hall to her room was also always empty. Only one servant was allowed to be in her room at a time. I never liked walking down that long hallway to her room; it always made me feel like someone was running after me.

Just as reached the door to her room I knocked, waiting for the vocal response to enter. Once I heard it, I entered and gave a routine bow of the head as a sign of respect. Princess Peach was sitting at her vanity wearing a long robe and staring angrily in the mirror. Her eyes darted to me and I bowed my head again. Her eyes moved to examine the tray.

After a quick inspection of the tray's contents, Princess Peach waved me away. "Please, put it to the side for now. Do you happen to know where Toadsworth is?"

I set the meal tray to the side as she had asked. I suppose that even if the guard had reached Toadsworth the other night, he wasn't able to tell her. "Toadsworth? I saw him headed for the gardens this morning. Why?"

The princess stared at me. "Apparently, the Mario Brothers left some time this morning. I believe Toadsworth forced them out in a stubborn rage."

"Oh, no, your highness." I clasped my hands together. "A guard informed me that the brothers had left some time in the night, but requested not to disturb you. They mentioned heading over to the hills, by where the Warp Pipe was last seen. I apologize for any misunderstanding."

Princess Peach rubbed her forehead and sighed.

"I'm sure that they aren't doing this to discourage you, your highness. I am more than positive that they appreciate your hospitality , but I think that the brothers would prefer to be alone for a while."

She looked back into the mirror. "Do you think so?"

I nodded. "Yes, your highness. Of course, this is only my say."

Princess Peach hummed in agreement and turned back towards me. "Anyhow, we might as well give them a little gift as thanks. They're all alone on that hill, after all."

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><p>It must have looked odd to everyone else – a castle servant walking down the street with a dining cart covered in an ominous gray sheet rolling along the stone path of Toad Town. I felt some people staring at me, but I tried to ignore them. At the end of the path, past the town, uphill and before a forest, there was a campfire. Only ashes remained as it looked that the fire had died long ago. No one was around at the moment. I sighed. Although Princess Peach's heart is in the right place, perhaps her hospitality is a bit forced.<p>

As I prepared to leave, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned quickly and let out a small scream. It was Mario. I grabbed my chest to clam my frantic heart.

He chuckled. "Sorry to scare you, but maybe that will teach you not to mess around what isn't your-a business, eh?" Mario walked over to the other side of the pile of ash. He sat down in the grass. "What brings you here, then?"

I exhaled and set the dining cart at my side. "Princess Peach ordered me to bring you and your brother some meals." I pulled the gray covering off the cart in one swift motion, forcing some objects to chink together. The cart had three shelves, all made of steel. The bottom was empty, the second held a large, red toolbox, and the top shelf held two plates with metal dome-like covers to preserve its heat. I gazed at it for a second then stepped towards the second shelf. "She also informed me that you may need something like this." I pulled out the toolbox, and it was much heavier than I expected. I held it with both hands and quickly let it drop before me. More metallic chinking came from inside the box. I looked back up to Mario.

Mario simply stared at me for a moment, probably still confused by my presence, then he let out a small chuckle. "You tell the princess I said thank you."

I nodded. "Yes, sir." My eyes started to wander and I noticed Luigi sitting motionless in the near distance. I knew asking any kind of question would be rude and intruding so I kept my mouth shut, until Mario seemed to have read my mind.

"He is just, trying to get used to everything." Mario turned slightly to look at him. Luigi's hunched back was all that faced us. Mario turned back around. "And I am too."

"I know what it's like to have to get used to a new place," I blurted. "It may not be the same entirely, but I had to move from Rogueport, a town a little north from here, to the castle when I got accepted as a castle servant." I rubbed my arm – a nervous habit of mine. "I'm the only castle servant to ever have come from there, so the first few days I felt alienated. After a while I got into the swing of things. I don't have many friends here, but I'm still able to keep in touch with some old friends of . . ." I shook my head. "I'm sorry, sir. I've been going on." I looked at Mario and realized that his head was down. He was looking at the grass.

Mario brought his head up and forced a smile. "It is like that in a way . . ."

Mindlessly I folded the gray cloth into a neat square . "I'll return in a couple of hours to bring back the cart. If you need anything else" – I pointed to the town square – "there's a store down the path, and if you need anything that they don't have, I'm sure the princess would be more than happy to give it to you."

Mario nodded. "Thank you . . ." He trailed, expecting my name.

I froze, almost as if I had forgotten my name over the years. I wouldn't have been surprised if I did, as my life had been nothing but cleaning and serving. Almost no one asked me for my name anymore; I was simply a servant."Tia," I finished. "My name is Tia, sir."

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><p>As promised I returned up the same hill to retrieve the cart two hours later. When I ventured up the hill again I saw a pile of planks in place of the fire pit. A Toad with blueprints rolled up and tucked under his arm greeted me, grabbed the planks, and made his way back to the town. Mario and Luigi were talking amongst themselves before Mario spotted me. The brothers walked over. I'd be lying if I said that right then I didn't feel intimidated again.<p>

Mario greeted me first. "Did you tell the princess thank you?"

A stiff nod from me. "Yes, sir."

He smiled. "Good." Then he put an arm around his brother. "This is my brother, Luigi. You may already know him."

Luigi gave an embarrassed, little smile. "Hello," he said softly.

I waved to him although he was about two feet in front of me.

"He does not speak much," Mario said, "because he does not want to learn. I told him, 'Luigi,' I say, 'if we are going to be in this world, we need to make some friends. To do that, you need to learn English.' But he is too shy."

Luigi pushed his brother away playfully.

My attention turned to the architect that was well on his way back. "Well, I see that you've already talked to the town's architect. I suppose you're getting a house built soon?"

Mario exhaled. "Yes. He is only going to give us a hand in it, though; I know the basics of it all."

"Really?" Toads usually never built houses without the help of a dozen others and a couple of experts. Humans probably have the strength to get whatever we can do done in nearly half the time, and with nearly half the people.

"I dabbled in carpentry before," Mario commented modestly. "Luigi is-a the real plumber in the family." He looked at his brother and smiled. "He knows his way around pipes better than I do."

Swaying forward, I grunted out of interest. "Huh." After taking one final look around, I grabbed the dining cart's handles. "Princess Peach said to keep the toolbox. It's yours now. If you need anything else, simply let her or one of us castle servants know."

Mario and Luigi nodded and gave both equally genuine, polite smiles.

I made my way back to the castle with the dining cart without looking back. The town square is relatively empty in the afternoon, so I felt no one giving me strange looks like I did this morning. I entered the castle from the back door that led straight to the kitchen.

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><p>For days and soon weeks I was never assigned to serve the princess anything. Perhaps Toadsworth spoke to the head of the castle servants about me listening in on conversations. Nothing ever goes unnoticed by him – even if the princess passes it off as nothing.<p>

While cleaning the windows of the hallway leading to the princess' room one evening, I noticed that the Mario Brothers had finished building a house big enough for the both of them. I saw a green figure sitting close to the house in the grass. It was Luigi, all by his lonesome. I moved to the next window and wet the cleaning cloth again. I wanted to get out of that hallway as fast as possible – it was getting dark quick. As I scrubbed away the dirt and dust from the window, I watched a scene unfold before me.

The door to the Mario Brothers' house opened. Luigi kept his head down. Mario stood in the doorway, creating a shadow figure of himself in the light that was spilling out. Mario looked as if he was trying to get Luigi to come inside. Luigi didn't move at all. Although I couldn't see his face, I knew he was morose and filled with absolute dread. His figure was as it had been when he sat in the conference room, and as it had been the morning after. The way he slouched and sat on the grass with his legs crossed together like a path intersecting with another told me enough. It must have told Mario the same thing, because he stepped out from his place in the doorframe and let the door swing closed behind him. Mario sat down beside his brother. I couldn't tell if they were talking. Most likely not, because of how still they sat.

I continued on to the next window and looked at the yearly calendar that hung on the wall separating two windows. I glanced over the dates only to do a double–take. I realized that it had been nearly half a year since the Mario Brothers had arrived with nothing but each other. Luigi must have been counting the days, or maybe it just hit him suddenly that half a year had passed. I looked back out one of the windows again to see Mario and Luigi sitting in their places. Even after I had finished cleaning all the windows in the hallway they sat in the grass, possibly talking or possibly silent.

When the windows were washed and the sun downing in the horizon I found myself taking another moment to stare at the brothers. They were by all means welcome in the kingdom, not only for being heroes but for being the protection the Mushroom Kingdom needs. But sometimes I wonder if anyone thinks about what they need.

We only assume that them having each other is enough.

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><p><strong>Criticism or not, all reviews are welcome!<strong>

**- Great Mistake**


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